


Coffee Magic

by misura



Category: Eureka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-10
Updated: 2008-09-10
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:45:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1639634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the subject of coffee in the morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee Magic

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Waldo

"SARAH, coffee."

Nothing, in Jack's opinion, quite started a day off right like a nice, fresh, hot cup of coffee. Everything (and almost everyone) in Eureka might be completely different from what Jack'd consider 'normal' - coffee, at least, was still coffee the way coffee should be.

" 'morning, Dad. SARAH, coffee?"

Full of caffeine that there was no way a teenage girl should need.

"Zoe ... " Jack started, then decided to change tacks and go after the source first. "SARAH, I told you not to let Zoe have any coffee."

"Yes, you did." Zoe lifted her steaming cup in triumph. "But guess what? You're no longer the only adult living here, and _Henry_ doesn't think I shouldn't be allowed to have any coffee ever."

"Are you talking about me?"

Henry entered the kitchen, and just like that, the family was complete. It was a strange feeling, Jack decided, to think of himself, Henry and Zoe as a family, but he supposed that was what they were now.

"Just telling my dad you're a totally cool guy."

Zoe liked Henry, which was something of a relief, Jack had to admit to himself. True, Henry seemed able to get along with nearly everyone, up to and including Stark, but then, most people only knew Henry as, well, Henry. Not as 'the guy who's technically going to become your stepdad, stepmom, whatever'.

" 'A totally cool guy'." Henry shook his head and chuckled. "Thanks, I think. SARAH, coffee, please?"

According to Vince, the betting pool had given Jack and Henry ending up as a couple odds of twenty-seven to one. Jack was sorry he'd only heard about it afterwards; he could have turned a tidy profit there, even if he supposed that as the local upholder of the law, he wasn't really supposed to involve himself in any gambling, even if he was the subject of the betting.

"Look, Henry, about letting Zoe have coffee ... "

Probably, he should have waited with bringing the subject up until after Zoe'd left, but he had to get to the office, too, and Henry needed to get to Global, and by the time they'd both get home again, Zoe'd be there again as well. Naturally, they shared a bedroom, only 'would you not interfere in me raising my daughter the way I think best for her?' might not make for the best kind of pillowtalk.

"Jack, I really, honestly don't see the problem."

"Ha!" Zoe looked smug.

"The _problem_? Look, it's been _scientifcally_ proven that too much caffeine is bad for you," Jack said. Remembering the mug in his own hand, he added: "For young people who don't need it."

"I _know_. And that is why, in Eureka, all coffee is entirely free of caffeine." Henry took a sip of his own coffee and smiled. "Tastes just like the real thing. Excellent brew as always, SARAH."

"Thank you, Doctor Deacon."

Jack opened his mouth, closed it again and stared at the mug in his hand. It looked like coffee. It smelled like coffee. When he'd tasted it just now, it had tasted like coffee.

It wasn't coffee.

"Don't act silly, Jack."

And Henry _definitely_ wasn't reading his mind. Just because they'd had sex last night, that didn't mean they now had some telepathic bond or something - stuff like that only happened in TV-shows. The ones Henry liked watching so that he could poke holes in the science part of the 'science fiction'.

"You've been drinking this special Eureka brand of coffee ever since you first came here, and has it ever done you any harm?" Henry asked, rhetorically. "Of course not!"

Jack reflected that before he came to Eureka, he'd never even considered that he might be gay. All right, maybe once. Twice, tops. He was smart enough not to say it though.

"Yeah, well, I don't know, Henry."

Zoe stared at her own cup a bit dubiously, Jack noticed. Apparently, he wasn't the only one with some deep-rooted suspicions against anything from the 'Eureka-brand' of things.

"SARAH, the first time I came here, didn't I say something about the coffee?" SARAH had a memory like a computer, Jack figured - she'd remember everything. Which was why he'd forbidden her to look inside his bedroom, although he'd given her full permission to keep an eye on Zoe when she was supposed to be sleeping or studying.

"You simply said 'SARAH, coffee', Sheriff Carter. I am sorry, but my program at present does not allow me to lie for you. While I realize that humans may find it comforting on occasion to be lied to, at present, I am not programmed for this part of human interaction."

"Okay, so I never noticed."

"SARAH, tea," Zoe said, then, after a look at Henry, adding: "Please."

"Wait - is the tea actually tea?" Jack asked, frowning.

Henry sighed. "Yes, the tea is actually tea - just like the coffee is actually coffee." Zoe looked up, expression slightly alarmed. "Not exactly like the coffee is coffee," Henry amended.

"Your tea is produced by pouring ot water on tea-leaves that have been crushed and dried, Zoe," SARAH reported. "It's a healthy, very suitable beverage for breakfast."

"See?" Henry threw Jack a look that was less than full of love, happiness and bunnies.

"Henry ... " Jack forgot sometimes that Henry was one of _them_ \- one of the scientists of Eureka, and definitely not the least of them, either. Privately, Jack considered it a compliment, but he didn't think telling Henry he didn't think of him as a scientist would go over well at this point.

"Ooh-kay, slightly tense atmosphere here, so ... I'm off to school. Bye!" Zoe deposited her empty tea-mug in the kitchen-sink, grabbed her bag and left.

"I'm sorry." Those words, Jack figured, were always a good place to start, especially when you meant them, and sincerely wanted to apologize.

Henry's answering grin came as something of a surprise. "I completely had you going, didn't I? Better: I completely had _Zoe_ going - and _that_ is an accomplishment indeed."

"Um," said Jack. "What?"

"I believe Doctor Deacon is referring to the quotation-mark-opening Eureka brand of coffee quotation-mark-closing," SARAH said.

"What about it?" Admittedly, it was better to see Henry smiling than frowning, but Jack honestly didn't see what Henry was getting at, or why he was grinning like he'd just pulled one over on - "No!"

"Yes!" Henry chuckled. "I mean, honestly, Jack? Artificial coffee? We're scientists here, not madmen."

A statement Jack couldn't entirely agree with, but drank a cup of coffee to anyway.

 


End file.
